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Review: Senko no Ronde 2 (Sony PlayStation 4)

Review by Clark A.

Last year, fans of bullet hell shooters were treated to
Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet. Fusing bullet hell madness with the
psychology of fighting games, it proved the genre is more adaptable than casual
observers give it credit for. It’s easy to forget, though, that this Touhou
game was handled by G.rev and infused with the sensibilities of a decade older series,
Senko no Ronde. Those who came to Bullet Ballet for its cute girls and stuck
around for the tight action will be pleased to know that Senko no Ronde 2 has even
more going for it.

Yes, in a relatively rare move for a 2D shooter, Senko no
Ronde 2 features a bonafide story mode that fleshes out its characters beyond being
the pretty faces behind the explosions. The meat and potatoes of this release
is a mode that adopts the visual novel format with the occasional climactic fight
thrown in for good measure. Make no mistake, though. It wasn’t the fact that a
2D shooter had a story that impressed me, but the way it turned an otherwise
fun little game into the stuff of legends.

Still, I would be remiss to gloss over what makes the Senko
no Ronde compelling and different. Besides a few vague approximations like
Acceleration of Suguri and perhaps Psychic Force or Virtual On, you're not
going to find many franchises that remotely do what Senko no Ronde does. This
is not a typical 2D shooter that tasks you with scrolling vertically or
horizontally and wiping out common threats as you work your way towards a boss.
Instead you’re locked in a circular arena where health bars are the deciding
factor. The bouts here are all one on one contests waged between distinctive characters
with countless intricacies.

Because 2D shooters, particularly bullet hells, often come
down to how well orchestrated enemy attack patterns are, there’s something
liberating about the structure employed here. You aren’t simply reacting to
pre-programmed movements and holding down the fire button. No, you’re permitted
to actively dictate the pace and play mind games, even against computer
opponents. Because most fights have a time limit, players who have honed their
dodging skills for decades can build strategies around defensive play. Unlike in
many traditional fighting games, “turtle” mentalities don’t cheapen the
experience because they feel at home in the context of this game’s mechanics.

Introducing open-ended experimentation is really the crux of
Senko no Ronde’s appeal. These games borrow all the beloved 2D shooter
conventions imaginable and rework them into a more competition oriented format.
Some ill-considered genre mashups out there complement each other like a
birthday cake and a blowtorch, but G.rev and its partners come bearing a thorough
understanding of what makes both 2D shooters and fighting games tick. Great
shoot ‘em ups often give the player multiple ways of dealing with enemies such
as bombs and alternate fire. That’s the case here with them functioning a
little like heavy punches and versus light punches, albeit more dynamic. Melee attacks
are then thrown into the mix to make spacing as relevant as a fighting game. Aiming
is tough at a distance, but firing projectiles too close makes you transparent
to counter. Mechanics like dash cancelling and parrying attacks are more innate
to fighting games, but their usage isn’t unheard of in shooters either, so they
feel like a logical extension of the player’s manoeuvrability options.

Disappointed at the lack of flashy boss fights? Well, using
the oh-so-creatively named B.O.S.S. mode, you can become one and tip the scales of warfare via massive machines
capable of pumping out ridiculous amounts and patterns of ammunition. That’s a
concept that resonates on two levels because it resembles the kind of flashy
super move you’d desperately whip out in the likes of Street Fighter. Here,
though, boss transformations are just as much about pressuring your opponent as
they are clinging to life. If your life bar is down to the point where one hit
will cause you to explode, B.O.S.S. mode will allow you to absorb more blows. While
you can easily dodge a super attack in a fighting game, you can’t easily prevent
an opponent from initiating B.O.S.S. mode…other than just bust it out yourself.
That design choice is the source of unparalleled tension, since you always have
to weigh factors like whether it’s better to prevent your opponent from using
their trump card or save yours as a counter.

There’s also the matter of the player’s individual strengths
to consider, since if you’re better at dodging fire than dishing it out, you
might prefer to conserve your ace in the hole. These segments last long enough
to be game-changers, but are short enough not to be impregnable to those on the
losing side. They’re also balanced by the fact that, with masterful aim, those
who are being oppressed can terminate an opponent’s transformation prematurely.
These power struggles allow Senko no Ronde to embrace the David versus Goliath scenarios
that bullet hell games achieve better than just about any other video game
genre.

This might all sound unique and enticing enough to forge an exceptional
experience, but as remarkable as the mechanics are, again, they aren’t the
reason I consider Senko no Ronde 2 an essential masterpiece. Make no mistake - this
is a full-featured game boasting online play, arcade modes, score attack, and
other such trimmings that will set the heart of your average fan ablaze. However,
Touhou Genso Rondo tackled much of the same concepts with the added benefit of
recognisable, lovable anime ladies. No, the reason I adore Senko no Ronde 2 is
the big kahuna: its story campaign. While this story is technically residual
material from Senko no Ronde DUO, it was never previously localised for English-speaking
audiences and the chances of that coming to fruition seemed nonexistent for
years.

It probably goes without saying that Senko no Ronde 2’s
story takes place in space. To get more specific, though, it follows the
exploits of the various planets, federations, and organisations that have
sprouted up across the solar system since humanity was forced by calamity to spread
out from earth. That expansion led to the advent of a new space calendar and
other such events that redefined how people examine history. Most crucially (for
the purpose of gameplay, anyway), just about every group under the sun now utilises
Rounders, the giant robots of everyone’s dreams, to perform combat and navigate
the vastness of space.

At first glance, it’s run of the mill stuff. The story kicks
off from the perspective of Lev LeFanu, an amnesiac pilot who was taken and trained
to become a Rounder pilot at a young age. Compelled by the government, he joins
the Harmonia Volunteer Force, a group of similarly youthful Rounder pilots. He then
undergoes something of a personal struggle in his new surroundings, which is probably
not assisted by the imminent threat of terrorists trying to nab super-weapons. He’s
a little more interesting than your average fictional amnesiac, particularly
because he doesn’t seem driven to discover his past so much as prove himself useful
to his comrades in the present.

That said, Lev LeFanu is also the vehicle through which
players are introduced to Senko no Ronde’s massive world. Players begin by fighting
for the Harmonia Volunteer Force, but you’ll quickly realise how many other
entities there are when you get to play as them. There’s the Special Space
Service, the Goddiver Security Organization, and various other galactic outfits
that operate under different rules with their own motivations. Few seem
outright shadowy and each one has a cast of diverse characters who perceive the
world a little differently due to their circumstances. As the plot unravels,
you discover even more players behind the scenes such as royal families and
rogue hackers. So much of the characters’ fates are down to politics, not their
own agency. Perhaps this will slightly frustrate some players since the video
game format is seen as more conducive to control, but in typical visual novel
format, there are still plenty of minor decisions players can make.

Character personalities are very much anime archetypes at
the outset. Examples include the sexy flirt, the standoffish commander, and the
bratty battle prodigy. Even so, they break out of their moulds not just because
of back stories and character development but these precious scenes of genuine,
human interaction. They might be as menial as whining and moaning over a broken
air conditioner as the commander tries to get a task done, but they’re
incredibly effective at giving each character a presence. Niche games of this
scale can be prone to rushing from point A to B as quickly as possible,
stopping only for technical exposition rather give characters time to branch
out and seem believable. For how massive the cast is, I'm grateful the writers
took the time to make a large percentage of them feel like they matter.

I’m also glad that the writers tackled warfare from a more
down-to-earth perspective (no pun intended). A lot of the early fights are
realistic and more about the regular training exercises between friends and
rivals at the same organization. Confrontations against other groups aren’t
always these melodramatic, overblown affairs of life and death either. They can
be as simple as getting an uncooperative intruder to depart or flexing a little
mechanical muscle to instill fear and respect in another nation. Because the
player pilots most forces affected by the conflict, it's all quite even-handed.
Players will discover why certain characters have chosen to abandon structured army
life and pursue their own interests, why people fight to give their life
meaning, and why others might be willing to be seen as a “villain” if it serves
their concept of a greater good.

The story has a good number of fights to make it more than a
“pure” visual novel, but never so many that the next big battle is the eternal
fixation. Heck, the dialogue continues on in the midst of battle, giving the
sense that two entities squaring off are conducting themselves in a human way
and creating tension. The only downside is that it might be a lot to absorb for
English audiences since the text unfolds at the bottom of the screen with no
English dub.

The story might not be immediately accessible to impatient
audiences, but it’s worth sticking it out. Plenty of jargon and character
backgrounds must be juggled, not to mention the ever-expanding lore, but as
previously mentioned, the game provides methods of catching up on these. As a
whole, the story offers some insight into the world's political structure and why
people fight. More importantly, why
they're obligated to do so and how
they deal with the hand they’ve been dealt in life. If you’re familiar with
mecha anime and manga, the messages will resonate even deeper.

The cherry on top isn’t the story itself but how it’s
actually presented. The plot events are mapped out on a giant timeline/web of
squares that each contains a set of dialogue scenes. Besides being a useful hub
of sorts, it makes it easier to keep track of prior events. It also helps keep
track of which organisation you’re controlling, and believe me, that’s quite
useful with how many there are. One little novelty is that it can provide a slight
visual sense of when potential enemies in different parts of the story might
meet up and clash, creating a unique sense of dramatic build-up. It's a nifty
little system I wouldn’t mind seeing more straight-up visual novels adopt and
improve on even further, especially ones that jump between large casts.

As an aside, production values are reasonably impressive for
a game of this niche scope and the artwork is always on point. The music,
composed by Zuntata and Yasuhisa Watanabe, is stellar even by the high
standards for shoot ‘em ups. It’s a bit of a shame that there are so many typos,
but considering this game’s chance at receiving localisation looked to be zero
after Ubisoft failed to rebrand Senko no Ronde as WarTech ten years ago, I encourage
you to be forgiving.

Few games in the world are as multilayered in their appeal as
Senko no Ronde 2. It’s positively exceptional, melding a fighting game into a
2D shooter then using that as the basis for a visual novel. That story goes on
to become the fabric of every mecha fan’s dreams, featuring the best tropes of
space operas along alongside more substantial commentary. It’s a pleasant reminder
that story-driven games don’t need to rely on the RPG format.

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